The present invention relates generally to textile fabrics, especially knitted textile fabrics, and relates more particularly to a novel knitted textile fabric having elongate hollow tubular segments integrated into the fabric structure for use in containing or conveying fluids across the fabric structure.
Tubes and pipes of varying shapes and sizes are commonly used for containing and conveying fluids, and especially for conveying heating and/or cooling fluids. In various environments, such tubes or pipes may be incorporated into a substrate or the like for structural support and to retain the tubes or pipes in a desired position, orientation or relationship. For example, in recent years, it has become common in luxury automobiles to provide active heating or cooling of the automobile seats from interiorly within the seat structure, in addition to actively cooling and heating the atmosphere within the interior passenger compartment of the automobile. One means of accomplishing the cooling/heating of an automobile seat is to incorporate fluid-carrying tubes, pipes or passageways into the seat structure. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,702, assigned to General Motors Corporation, such tubes, pipes or passageways may be formed or contained within the foam cushioning commonly utilized in such seats.
While textile fabrics have found numerous and diverse uses and applications across a wide variety of differing industries, including the automobile industry, it is believed that the concept of incorporating fluid-carrying tubes or pipes into the structure of a textile fabric has not heretofore been proposed or attempted, but given the economies which can be realized from the automated fabrication of textile fabrics, such a composite fabric with integrated fluid-carrying tubes or pipes could offer not only cost savings but also expanded industrial applications for textile fabrics, such as in fabricating heated/cooled automobile seat structures as one potential application.